The cable industry’s two major technical bodies have officially agreed to merge.
The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), will now become subsidiaries of CableLabs, effective Jan. 1.
According to the groups’ joint announcement, both boards voted unanimously for the move, and the SCTE membership gave its “overwhelming support.
Also read: SCTE and CableLabs Set to Merge
“The pace of innovation requires that the work—which begins with research and development of published specifications, industry standards and products deployed to market—is efficiently integrated and broadly made available. This assures that innovation, specifications, standards, training and deployment are more efficiently connected,” said Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs. “This move represents the industry’s ongoing commitment to 10G, rapidly delivering new innovations and services that meet ever-evolving consumer needs and support of the future expansion of broadband deployment.”
CableLabs, established in 1988, is a research and development consortium backed by the big, consolidated operator giants of the U.S. and Canadian cable industries. Its members had earlier voted unanimously to pursue the tie-up.
“The increased alignment that will come out of this relationship is critical,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE•ISBE. “Streamlining vendor and international relationships creates efficiencies in connecting implementation, best practices, needs and allocation of resources across the industry. We’re proud to join the CableLabs family.”
